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Shared Value Proposition- The Strategy for
Sustainable Growth
This document is prepared by Labournet to discuss the Onsite training program it conducted for
Godrej Properties.
Copyright© 2014 by LabourNet. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic,
mechanical ,photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the permission of Labournet.
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“The purpose of the corporation must be redefined as creating shared value,
not just profit per se. This will drive the next wave of innovation and
productivity growth in the global economy.” – Michael Porter
The concept of shared value remains diluted till date. Where on the one hand many companies
continue to view value creation narrowly, optimizing financial performance, on the other hand,
there are companies which recognize the significance of optimizing the welfare of the
communities they operate in, at large. In such organizations, social responsibility is seen as a part
of core strategy.
Godrej Industries’ Shared Value Initiative : “Good and Green”
Founded almost a century ago, in 1987,the Godrej Group has always been known for its
philanthropic and social activities for decades now.
As a part of its strategy of sustainable growth, Godrej Industries is commited to inclusive
growth that aims at enhancing the competitiveness of their businesses while simultaneously
advancing the economic and social conditions of the communities in which they operate. This
focus is implemented group wide through the shared value initiative called 'Godrej Good and
Green'.
As a part of Good & Green vision,Godrej Industries aspires to do the following by 2020:
• Training one million rural and urban youth in skilled employment
• Achieving zero waste, carbon neutrality, positive water balance along with reducing their
specific energy consumption and increasing proportion of renewable energy resources
• Having a third of their portfolio revenues comprising good and/or green products and
services – defined as products that are environmentally superior or address a critical
social issue (e.g., health, sanitation, disease prevention) for consumers at the bottom of
the income pyramid.1
Creating Shared Value through Partnership
Implementing the strategy requires significant amount of resources in terms of time and effort.
Godrej Properties used partnership model and engaged Labournet to help them implement their
1 Annual Report of Godrej Properties, 2012-13;
https://www.godrejproperties.com/backoffice/data_content/invester_pdf/GPLAnnualReport2012-13.pdf
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strategy. Godrej Properties chose Labournet2 as it had been a pioneer in training construction
workers. [Read about Labournet in next section]
Godrej Properties outsources the construction activties to other organisations. Through this
initiative, Godrej Properties would end up creating value for its extended supply chain as the
workers to be trained are not direct employees of Godrej properties and are infact workers of its
construction partners[like L&T] /contractors.3
As a part of the project, Labournet was expected to design and facilitate training solutions for
construction workers to enhance their employbility at its various sites.
About Labournet
Labuornet, a social enterprise, has over the years worked assiduously to improve conditions of
labourers by providing them with identity, training for skills development, financial inclusion
and by linking them to markets.
The organisation since its inception, has focused on creating a platform where workers from the
unorganized sector can access sustainable benefits like health, training &employment aids to
become empowered and act as a professional contributing to his/her own wellbeing and that of
the nation. It uses credible resources and tools for assessment and certification of workers to
provide an enriched sense of skill enhancement and self-identity.
Labournet strives to provide trained, skilled, competent and motivated workforce that will strive
for excellence at work and facilitate seamless growth of the organizations they work for by
making them agile, dynamic, efficient and effective.
Labournet provides innovative training solutions to manage challenges in today’s dynamic
market. Labournet is a value-based training organization and believes in leaving a positive
impact in all areas of business it works for.
LabourNet has designed training programs for various trades and industries to enable visible
transformation and results by enhancing knowledge, skills and attitude of workforce.
In the initial years, Labornet experimented with various methodologies for imparting training to
the workers. Leveraging some kind of technology was important for rapid scaling. This led
2 LabourNet Services India Private Limited is referred to as Labournet in this document
3 The construction industry operates in a complex web of subcontracting. Most of workers working on sites are
engaged by contractors and not directly by L&T.
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Labournet to invest in making video films for training in various activities such as painting,
tiling,etc.
On-site Training Model for Construction workers
Godrej properties wanted to train workers in four trades,ie, bar bending, masonry, shuttering
carpentry and tilling. The training for these trades was to be imparted in five locations across
India. These locations were Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta,Bangalore and Nagpur.
The first location chosen for imparting training was Nagpur. On visit to the various sites, it was
learnt that the workforce was highly diversified and semi-skilled. Most of workers had not had
any formal training. However, many of them would have gained experience and trade know-how
while at work. The diversified workforce leas to language and communication problems . There
was very little awareness of workplace health and safety. The workers required a lot of
supervision and instructions. These all factors accounted for low productivity and lot of wastage
of resources. Thw workers alo had limited understanding of the various processes at workplace.
The majority of workers were skeptic of these trainings as every hour spent on training meant
loss of pay for them . The team had to do a sensitization exercise and explain the benefits of
training to the workers. This exercise was important to ensure maximum particiaption.
Labournet took the challenge and based on its experience, followed the approach of blending the
onsite training with classroom training. The program was designed keeping in mind the special
characteristics of the workforce at each location.
The process followed is as follows:
• Content Design and Pedagogy: The Subject Matter Expert (SME) designed the training
content based on workforce characteristics (i.e. language, age, experience). The SME
come with rich industry experience.They have developed an experise in their respective
domains over the years and are able to design practical and workakble solutions.
• Pre Training Skill Assessment /RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning):The team then
designed and used RPL to assess workers and identify skill gaps. Recognition of Prior
learning (RPL) is used by trainers ahead of the start of training to evaluate current skill
levels of the learners and design the training plan.
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• Registration- The workers registered in large numbers and there was a bare minimum
dropout in the training programs eventually. [Refer Exhibit 4 ]
• Training Implementation Process- An intesive training program was conducted which
blended onsite and classroom training. The training of the workers at the worksite was
primarily practical in nature and was carried out by skilled trainer who is ,from time to
time, supported by a subject matter expert (SME).
• Assessment and Certification-At the end of the training program , each worker was
assessed based on his understanding of the responsibilities and role as well as learning
outcomes discussed ahead of the training. An external assessor (independent of the
trainer) conducted the final assessment and this aseesment was based on the methodology
agreed upon.
• Measuring Training Effectiveness : At the end of the training program various methods
were used to meausre the effectivenss of the training programs. Few of the ways used to
asses are – feedback from learners, comparing RPL and assessment results, feedback
from supervisors on the behaviorial and tangible results achieved at workplace,etc.
Within a short span of 9 months, Labournet imparted training to almost 4000 workers across
India. [Refer Exhibit 4]
LabourNet’s training model ensured that the trainees get to develop relevant practical skills on
the job. The workers reacted positively to the training.The ones who attended the training
showed remarkable improvement.
Measuring Impact of Training Programs: Creating Value for All
Stakeholders
Workers-The training programs have lead to significant improvement of the workers .Where on
the one hand there are obvious benefits in terms of enhanced knowledge and skills, the training
also lead to high motivation and confidence among the workers. We compared the RPL scores
with the assessment scores and the data is cleraly indicative of significant improvement .[ Refer
to Exhibit 5 ]
These trainngs are expected to lead to higher wages.
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Construction Partners/Contractors- A post training productivity survey was conducted to
assess the impact of the training program on overall productivity4. The supervisors told that skill
levels for learners have improved significantly and they required less supervision than before.
The survey suggested that the training not only lead to upgraded skills, improved construction
standard, quality, productivity but also lead to reduced costs, wastages and delays in the
organizational processes.[ Refer to Exhibit 6 for post productivity survey scores for Bar Bending
trade. The graphs show the significant improvement and results derived post training. ]
There has also been a significant increase in safety regulations and procedure awareness. During
discussion with supervisors, it was also learnt that quality of work has improved significantly.
The supervisors also mentioned that there has been a fair amount of reduction in material
wastage.
Supervisors have rated the relevance of training to the workplace needs and its impact on
concept awareness, use of tools and processes high. Though the translation of this into actual
performance is not as steep, especially in trades like masonry where emphasis is on skills . The
workplace risk has also substantially reduced and has lead to better standards of health and
safety.
Godrej Properties- Where on the one hand Godrej Properties is committed to create value for
its stakeholders, CSR initiatives like these help them extend their shared value proposition.
Labournet- Labournet by acting as a social partner in such initiatives fulfills its mission of
building capacity and creating sustainable benefits for workers in informal sector.
Conclusion-An integrated shared value approach for Business
Business have always enjoyed the paradoxical status of being responsible for social and
economic upliftment and at the same time have also been held responsible for
social,environmental and economic problems.
This divide has only lead to much confusion. Though in the recent times, many organisations
have come with business models based on shared value propostion.
4 Productivity here is defined as summation of enhanced willingness and ability in undertaking complex tasks,
safety, time efficiency, quality and minimal wastage of resources.
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Table 15
As the above table suggests how companies can benefit by enabling the community
development. Many comanies have incorporated such initiatives as a critical shared value
offering. To advance CSR, it must be rooted in a broad understanding of the interrelationship
between a corporation and society while at the same time anchoring it in the strategies and
activities of the companies.
5 Article on “Measuring Shared Value: How to unlock Value by Linking Social and Business Results” by Michael E
Porter and others; http://www.fsg.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/PDF/Measuring_Shared_Value.pdf
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Exhibit 1
Vision of LabourNet:
“To be the leader to transform andenhance the lives of the informal sectorworkers into better
standards through skill development”
Mission of LabourNet:
LabourNet’s mission is to reach a large number of informal sector workers and providethem
security and employmentthrough skill development and vocational courses. Our aim is to get to
half a million workers by 2017.
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Exhibit 26
6http://labournet.in/services/training/
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Exhibit 3
Month Ahmedabad Kolkata Bangalore Mumbai Nagpur Total
Apr 116 116
May 78 78
Jun 63 63
Jul 64 64
Aug 396 71 467
Sep 538 323 86 947
Oct 583 186 62 831
Nov 500 114 118 47 779
Dec 351 160 207 62 780
2368 623 278 207 649 4125
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Exhibit 4
Trade
Number of
Candidates
Registered
Number of
Candidates Dropped
Number of Workers
Trained across
locations
Bar Bending 898 72 826
Masonry 1858 130 1707
Shuttering Carpentry 1571 150 1402
Tiling 199 10 189
Total 4526 362 4124
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Exhibit 5
1
55
0 00
20
40
60
80
100
120
No
of
Lear
ne
rs
Grades
Bar Bending
56
1 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
No
of
Lear
ne
rs
Grades
Masonry & Plastering97
47 50
11
93
0 00
20
40
60
80
100
120
No
of
lear
ne
rs
Grades
Shuttering Carpentry103
0 0 1
48
23 25
1 00
20
40
60
80
100
120
No
of
lear
ne
rs
Grades
Tiling
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Exhibit 6
85%
13%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Response
2%
Health and Safety
54%45%
1%0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Response
Complex Task
29%
71%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Response
Time Efficiency
43%56%
1%0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Response
Quality
29%
71%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Response
Waste Reduction
